At the age of eighteen he entered the Benedictine monastery of Sainte-Anne de Kergonam as a postulant and on 8 December 1965 took temporary vows.

After performing his military service in Le Mans, he returned to the monastery and made his solemn profession as a Benedictine on 8 December 1970.

In the French Bishops Conference he has been President of the Episcopal Commission for Liturgy and Sacramental Pastoral Care.

[2] He was appointed to a five-year term as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on 2 February 2005.

By way of contrast, he said those who celebrate the ordinary form needed to reform it by "reintroducing more silence, hierarchy, interiority, and the beauty of liturgical garments".